Letters To The Editor

August 26, 2007

Headline Was

In Poor Taste

An Aug. 14 front-page feature story on the anatomical donation program at the University of Connecticut Health Center has prompted me to write this letter.

The headline ``The Corpse Collector'' was in poor taste, self-serving and, frankly, showed The Courant's insensitivity toward the program. The Courant's poor choice of words only served to degrade a noble and worthwhile cause and made my work appear macabre and ghoulish.

I was disappointed that The Courant chose the standard of a supermarket tabloid rather than a respectable morning newspaper.

James Casso

Meriden

The writer heads the University of Connecticut School of Medicine's anatomical donation program.

Scandalous Editorial

In an Aug. 20 editorial, The Courant blithely disparaged the Connecticut State Police [``Another Trooper Scandal'']. The writer stated that ``the frequency of scandals at the Connecticut State Police is troubling.'' What is much more troubling to me is the general condemnation of a whole department based on the conduct of a few.

I am the proud son of a Connecticut state trooper. I'm also a retired Farmington police officer. I have been honored to know state troopers personally and professionally. For The Courant's editorial writer to say that ``the abuses point to a breakdown in the culture of integrity that should be a hallmark of the state police'' clearly indicates a poor knowledge of the Connecticut State Police, its culture or its long history of integrity. The writer also belies a real lack of any familiarity with organizational psychology.

The real scandal is not about the state police and its hundreds of men and women who define the words ``professionalism'' and ``dedication.'' It isn't about a ``downward spiral'' of the state police. The real scandal is the decline of The Courant's editorial writing on a page that once was well-regarded.

Chick Pritchard

Farmington

Unfair To Make

Drivers Pay

There is no question that midtown Manhattan is congested. As someone who drives into New York on a regular basis, I've experienced the traffic and gridlock. But making people pay for the privilege is just an expensive, simplistic approach [editorial, Aug. 23, ``New York Needs Price Plan''].

First, New York bears no comparison to London. The West Side Highway and the FDR on the east side are very efficient outside of rush hour and move better at most times than I-95 or the Merritt Parkway in Connecticut. There are no comparable roadways in inner-city London.

The notion that the poor would not be affected because they already ride public transportation is the height of elitism. People of all backgrounds need to get to their jobs. Forget the abusive stick approach and provide a carrot that makes sense. Because you don't really need a car in the city, public transportation is an enormously attractive option. The problem is, at least in Connecticut, the options are limited. The fact that there is not an efficient commuter train from Hartford to New York with reasonable parking boggles the mind.

The bulk of drivers entering New York come from neighboring towns and states. Mayor Michael Bloomberg needs to form a regional transportation consortium to promote creative and cooperative approaches to public transportation. Engage the governors of New Jersey and Connecticut, and get federal and state funds to support public transportation that will do what no regressive tax could ever fairly accomplish.

Douglas Wright

Glastonbury

Deal Harshly

With Elder Abuse

In response to the Aug. 23 article ``Victim Faces Down Attacker'' [Connecticut section]:

A 73-year-old woman was punched and raped. I find these attacks on the elderly absolutely appalling.

Alejandro Cuy Xum was sentenced to 20 years for what he did to this woman. When are we going to pass a law that gives a 50-year mandatory sentence in a Third World country to anyone who harms the elderly -- let alone rapes them?

I find the emphasis placed on the term ``illegal'' very unfair. Every day we either read about or see on TV crimes committed by people of varying backgrounds, nationalities and mental demeanors. Rip-offs, robbery and rape we are reconciled to, even though they produce outrage at the first reporting -- the exception being the horrendous crimes in Cheshire allegedly committed by Joshua Komisarjevsky and Steven Hayes. Were they illegal immigrants? No. Were they a threat to public safety? You bet.

Outrageous crimes occur constantly, but news coverage seems to be more emphatic and pronounced if committed by an immigrant, especially an illegal one. Could it be that some people are trying to make political statements?